How did ancient Indian concept of Aryan and svastik become 20th century Nazi concept?

The term Aryan is a form of the word "iran"

Ironically, it was originally used to describe what the Bible considers to be the first people of "mixed race" (though the Bible doesn't see them in terms of "race", but families/peoples - they were a people descended from two of Noah's sons which was unique at the time).

Quoted from 2nd source below;

Before long, the account of polygenesis and the superior European race was connected with a new myth that became incredibly popular among European academics in the late eighteenth through the middle of the nineteenth centuries. (This in turn was connected with a craze for linguistic research which also figured into the rise of ‘higher criticism’ of the Bible.18) The basic components of this academic myth involve India, Europe, and an anti-biblical orientation of the researchers. The story went like this: The forefathers of the European race emerged from the Caucasus or Kashmir mountains in western India and headed west. (Hence the term Caucasian.) They carried with them the wisdom of the ancient east—principles of freedom and advanced society predating the Jewish Old Testament. (Excluding the Old Testament was important to many of the anti-Semites connected with this new racial theory.) This pure race of the first Europeans was termed the Aryan race.19

Incredible as it might seem to us now, a conglomerate of polygenism and the Aryan ‘out-of-India’ hypothesis combined to become a leading paradigm in anthropology by the 1830s. And this was more than just academic speculation. These hypotheses were directly used to both justify and promote racist attitudes and actions in Europe and the United States.

Antisemitism

In Germany, zealous anti-Semitic scholars produced several ‘Aryan bibles’. These were revisions of Scripture that corrected the supposed Jewish myths prevalent in the Old Testament with Asian religious connections. An example of the changes made was the transformation of Moses into Manu, a central figure in the Vedic religion, the precursor of Hinduism.20 Just how wild this speculation actually became is shown by the connections that were made between ancient Nordic myths, ancient Indian religion, and Aryan supremacy, all predicated on the polygenesis explanation of human history and the ‘out-of-India’ hypothesis. Leon Poliakov called this ‘the disconcerting phenomenon of German neo-Paganism.’21 These bizarre racial myths of Europe, including those based on polygenesis and the India hypothesis, laid historical groundwork into which Darwinian justifications of racism could be integrated in the years to come. It would culminate in the Nazis’ quintessential edifice of racism.22

Quoted from last source below;

"The word ‘Aryan’, which Nazis used to refer to a ‘master race’, actually comes from a Sanskrit word meaning ‘noble’; as in arya sat yani in Sanskrit or ariya sat see in Thai, meaning the ‘four noble truths’. Adolf Hitler adopted his racist plans from two anti-Christian influences: evolution and Hinduism. Nearly all Hindus and Buddhists who believe in reincarnation desire to come back in the next life with whiter skin, as Aryans are at the top of the caste system. "

We can try...

The swastika appears in many different cultures and represents the four primary forces in the Universe. You can think of these as the fundamental forces in Science, or the four winds, or whatever. The Nazi party was attempting to be creative, to establish the 1000 year reich, with all kinds of noble purposes, and hence saw the symbol as representative of what they wished to accomplish. I'm not sure why, but for some reason, they reversed the symbol, which suggested that the ideal would be corrupted, and cause destruction rather than creation.

Most people are not aware of the background of the swastika, and associate it entirely with the Nazi party and its excesses, which is why so many people, especially younger ones, see it as 'evil'.

As for Aryan, and the Nazi use of it, they were looking to build a pure race, rather than the mongrel set of races that were most of Central Europe. Rather like trying to re-establish a breed of animals by using those with a higher proportion of the 'pure' with each other. Of course, it doesn't work, but simplistic understanding of genetics suggests that it is possible, even if it might take 1000 years. BTW, it was NOT about blue-eyed, blond Nordic peoples - Swedes, Norwegians and Finns were not considered to be Aryan, or at least not completely. The ideal was the Prussian, who have as much dark haired people as blonds, and many brown-eyed people as blue-eyed.

Old Prussian, btw, as a language seems to have had more in common with Sanscrit than the germanic languages, so the symbol and idea of Aryan would have been part of the culture.

Hope this helps...

Swastika

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The swastika is an ancient symbol that has been used for over 3,000 years. (That even predates the ancient Egyptian symbol, the Ankh!) Artifacts such as pottery and coins from ancient Troy show that the swastika was a commonly used symbol as far back as 1000 BCE.

During the following thousand years, the image of the swastika was used by many cultures around the world, including in China, Japan, India, and southern Europe. By the Middle Ages, the swastika was a well known, if not commonly used, symbol but was called by many different names:

* China - wan

* England - fylfot

* Germany - Hakenkreuz

* Greece - tetraskelion and gammadion

* India - swastika

Though it is not known for exactly how long, Native Americans also have long used the symbol of the swastika.

The Original Meaning

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The word "swastika" comes from the Sanskrit svastika - "su" meaning "good," "asti" meaning "to be," and "ka" as a suffix.

Until the Nazis used this symbol, the swastika was used by many cultures throughout the past 3,000 years to represent life, sun, power, strength, and good luck.

A Change in Meaning

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In the 1800s, countries around Germany were growing much larger, forming empires; yet Germany was not a unified country until 1871. To counter the feeling of vulnerability and the stigma of youth, German nationalists in the mid-nineteenth century began to use the swastika, because it had ancient Aryan/Indian origins, to represent a long Germanic/Aryan history.

By the end of the nineteenth century, the swastika could be found on nationalist German volkisch periodicals and was the official emblem of the German Gymnasts' League.

For more read the source

Aryan

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The term Aryan originates from the Sanskrit word arya, attested in the ancient texts of Hinduism such as the Rigveda. Arya in Sanskrit holds the meaning civilized or simply referring to an individual of higher consciousness.

In the 18th century, the most ancient known Indo-European languages were those of the Indo-Iranians' ancestors. The word Aryan was adopted to refer not only to the Indo-Iranian people, but also to native Indo-European speakers as a whole, including the Albanians, Kurds, Armenians, Greeks, Latins, and Germans. It was soon recognised that Balts, Celts, and Slavs also belonged to the same group. It was argued that all of these languages originated from a common root—now known as Proto-Indo-European—spoken by an ancient people who must have been the original ancestors of the European, Iranian, and Indo-Aryan peoples. The ethnic group composed of the Proto-Indo-Europeans and their modern descendants was termed the Aryans.

Even in the Hindu epic called "The Mahabharata", during the Kurukshetra war, when Arjuna did something unbecoming of a noble warrior, his half-brother Karna(Who fought against Arjuna) exclaims " Un-aryam aryena , Sahasra-netra!".....which means :" O thousand-eyed One! That act of yours was unbecoming of you of noble birth!"

Aryan = actually noble, or high class.

This sanskrit text, by the way, shows that the dating of this Hindu culture is 8 thousand years before Christ. "All is well". is the translation of { Su + asthi}, and a dimunitive symbol is swastika. Similarly, we have names like Radhika, Geetika, Deepika, Kanika, etc as little ones of Radha, Geeta, Deepa, etc. Hence 'Swastika' is a little symbol of everything pure. Even today, in Hindu homes during feastive occasions the Swastika is drawn in red and gold on the walls and doors of the residents as an auspicious sign, for peace, prosperity, and harmony.

How this came to be adopted by the Nazis of Hitler is interesting!

[Incidentally, the Nazi swastika sign is drawn with the arms of the swastika extending clockwise; the Hindu swastika is drawn anti-clockwise! Did you know that? Check it out!!

With the German Nazi ideology of Hitler --that only the 'pure' blue-blood Aryan race should inhabit the earth-- the Germans started systematically eliminating those who were NOT Aryans.

[the rest is history].Of course, Hitler and his cronies became obsessive megalomaniacs who brain-washed everyone about this crazy ideology, and convinced themselves that they were right.

The connection between the Hindu culture and the Nordic-Germanic culture is not so difficult to comprehend. From the icy cold, nordic/ central European peoples, migration across the land masses began. The blue-eyed, fair-skinned people who invaded the land of the Hindus [ people living on the banks of the river 'Indus', now flowing through the bordering country --Pakistan) pushed the dark, negroid, original inhabitants down far to the south, and settled themselves along the fertile river Ganges in the north of India.

The present-day Pakistani - and across the political border- the present-day Punjabi people are fair-skinned, blue-eyed, and very well-built, compared to the dark, puny south Indian Dravidians living to the south of the Vindhya mountains. [Found in the states of present-day Andhra, Karnataka, Tamil nadu, and Kerala.] The

Of course, over thousands of years, despite the initial antagonism there has been inter-mingling of the races. One can find evidence of an odd fair skin and blue- eyed person in the south too--- that proves the exception.

I may be somewhat inaccurate with historical dates, but that is the history and reasoning about the two cultures you asked about! I hope this explanation helps.

The use of the swastika in Nazi Germany was founded in Tibet, not India. The swastika is a very, very old symbol (some say it is almost as old as the cross and the circle) that was used in many different cultures throughout the world. Its been found on artifacts from ancient Greece dating from the eighth century BC, the Navajos, ancient Egypt, etc.. Anyway, Hitler had sent many expeditions to Tibet and one of the biggest things they gained from those trips was the use of the swastika which is a deeply mystical symbol of Tibet that represented "eternity." Dr. Friedrich Krohn suggested the use of the swastika which was just reversed.

Its just the symbol that was chosen to represent the Nazis. Judging from the various meanings of the swastika, it does make sense that they would choose it. "Eternity," the sun wheel, symbol of the world, etc.. Some argue (and I agree) that it reveals the occult nature of Nazi Germany, but I won't get into that. Had they chosen the circle or the cross or any other symbol that symbol would come to symbolize the horrors of Nazi Germany to us too and would not be seen as we see it today. They were smart in that sense. The power of symbols is overwhelming. Even still we associate it to Hitler and his ideas of a New World Order. "Gone but not forgotten.." Had Nazi Germany been "good," the chosen symbol would have a "good" meaning.

In Hinduism, the swastika is seen (in both directions) as a symbol of the the creator, Brahma. It is also considered a symbol of the sun when associated with Vishnu, from which all life is possible.

On a side note, Hitler also sent many expeditions to various areas around the world in search of the swastika in order to "prove" that it was the symbol of the chosen peoples. I can't remember off the top of my head, but I know Persia and Peru were two of those places where they looked for it and found it.

As for the changed meaning of Aryan, well that can be explained in the similarities in the languages which you already have a lot of good answers for. Nazi supporters argued that there had been tall, blue-eyed blonds living in that region which had originated in Europe and moved to that area, taking their languages with them, but had been gradually "bred out." To prove their theory, they dug up a lot of stories of fair-haired and fair-skinned heroes and deities. The idea of Aryan superiority was brought up by de Gobineau and spread from there. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, who also had a lot to do with the symbol of the swastika from Tibet, wrote a book called the Secret Doctrines. The Aryan race was the fifth of seven "root races." Anyway, right now it is believed that the "original" Aryans/Indo-Europeans were of Southern Russia. They migrated out of that area taking their languages with them, although their fair skin and hair were gradually bred out, like I said earlier.

When the British learned about Sanskrit and Hindu culture, they started to see similarities with European languages. Out of this, the idea came that there was one ancient race of people with a common ancestry. This idea spread throughout Europe. For propaganda purposes, the British scholars fabricated the idea of an 'Aryan invasion' of India, and the Aryans were supposed to be a race of fair skinned people from central Asia. Such a racial theory served to make the Indian culture to be derived from hostile invaders. This theory of Aryan invasion was based on a deliberate misinterpretation of the Vedic scriptures, which talked of a battle between light and darkness, which was misinterpreted as a battle between dark and light-skinned people. They also misinterpreted the word 'arya', which means noble or refined in Sanskrit, to be the name of a race of people. The theory has absolutely no physical evidence to support it, but it was adopted and taught in British India for propaganda purposes

Meanwhile, the Germans seized on the idea of a common ancestry for Indo-European people, because it gave them a sense of identity amidst the constant invasions they had to endure for centuries. They saw themselves as representing the purest form of this Aryan race, and they adopted Aryan symbols such as the Hindu swastika. Therefore the swastika was used by the Germans as a symbol of nationalism and racial superiority, although the swastika does not have any such meaning.

answer: because the swastika is a symbol found around the world, not just in India or Asia. Northern Europe had the swastika long before Hitler and the Nazis. I've seen Roman artwork of the swastika. Several German units used the swastika in WWI

It was perverted by the Nazis and their ideological followers into modern time.

That isn't going to go away for another few generations. What is decoration and considered a luck symbol in Finland or India isn't going to make your roommate more comfortable. Alter it or keep it in your room where the roommate can't see it - have peace in the house, my friend

The Nazis were influenced by the theosophical society which believed that the aryans were a race of

blue-eyed bond giants. that ruled the world from atlantis some how lost their position of power and they were being guided by enlightened masters to restore the aryans. This could be seen in the height requirements of the SS- 6 foot +.

Also from my understanding prior to WWII Aryan in linguistics meant the indo-european family of languages

edit the theosphicists and Nazis used the swatika due to the indian conection.

the germans basically divided all caucasians into 'aryan' and 'semite' in order to draw a distinction between northern european and jewish culture. it was very arbitrary, but served the purpose of denigrating jews, which was the whole idea. they then decided that the german blue-eye, blond-haired ideal was the true aryan. hitler's swastika is tilted and flipped, so it's altered from the original. the symbol was common in indo-european [i.e. aryan] cultures, and hitler took it from norse paganism. he idealized the norse mythos to represent his racist agenda and updating the swastika was one part of that.

current archaeological evidence suggests that the aryan cultural group originated in what is now afghanistan. it established the harrapan civilization in the indus valley, which was contemporary with sumer and featured highly advanced urban planning, including sanitation systems. artifacts of the harrapan civilization indicate that they practiced an early form of hinduism.

according to the vedas, there were five tribes of aryans, one of which remained in central asia and became the vedic hindus, the persians, parthians, greeks, and druids appear to be the other four tribes. these four aryan tribes spread indo-european religion thru the northern parts of the middle east and into and thru-out europe. but in hitler's time, euro-centric historians postulated that the aryans originated in europe and spread south and east, based on the assumption that western culture was superior and couldn't have originated among the unwashed savages outside of europe. that is the basis of hitler's presumption of white supremacy, and it has been proven absolutely false with many significant finds in the last few decades.

hitler would have had a fit if he realized that he was extolling hindu religious ideas by using norse mythology in his propaganda machine. i wish the modern racists who abuse asatru could learn that they are practicing a religion that originated in afghanistan, but they'd only deny it.

IT ALL STARTED WITH MAX MUELLER AND OTHER WESTERNERS...

HARD TO ACCEPT THAT THERE WAS/IS A CIVILIZATION WICH IS MUCH ADVANCED BY ALL MEANS THAN THE OWN.

http://www.hindubooks.org/david_frawley/myth_aryan...

THANKS TO THE WESTER HISTORIANS AND INDOLOGISTS WE HAVE A WRONG IMAGE OF THE ARYANS!

IF THE ARYANS INVADED OR MIGRATED TO INDIA WHY DONT WE FIND ANYTHING CULTURALLY SIMILAR ELSE WHERE IN THE WORLD!?!

ITS NOT ABOUT A RACE RATHER ABOUT CULTURE... THE INDUS-SARASWATI CULTURE.

THE WORD ARYAN HAS ITS ORIGIN IN SANSKRIT, MAX MÜLLER TOOK THE WORD FROM THE VEDAS, THE AUTHORS OF THE VEDAS CALLED THEMSELVES "ARYA" WHICH MEANS "NOBLE". THEY LIVE IN THE AREA WHICH MAKES TODAYS INDIA, IRAN,AFGHANISTAN AND PAKISTAN.

DEFINITIONS:

the authoritative Sanskrit lexicon (c. 450 AD), the famous Amarakosa gives the following definition:

mahakula kulinarya sabhya sajjana sadhavah

An Arya is one who hails from a noble family, of gentle behavior and demeanor, good-natured and of righteous conduct

And the great epic Ramayana has a singularly eloquent expression describing Lord Rama as:

arya sarva samascaiva sadaiva priyadarsanah

Arya, who worked for the equality of all and was dear to everyone.

The Rigveda also uses the word Arya something like thirty six times, but never to mean a race.

DOES THESE DEFENTIONS REFLECT THE SO CALLED "ARYANS " FROM THE WEST?

THEY WERE NO BARBARIANS AS THE WESTERN "ARYANS" SAY... SEE ALL THOSE CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE ARYANS AND THEIR SUCCESSORS IN SCIENCE, PHILOSOPHY, ASTRONOMY, MEDICINE ETC... CAN THAT BE FROM BARBARIANS?

THERE ARE STILL NO SCIENTIFIC PROOFS FOR ALL THOSE "ARYAN THEORIES" OF THE WEST...

WE SHOULD STOP MISUSING AND INSULTING THE NAME OF THE ANCESTORS OF THOSE NATION.

THE ARYAN-DRAVIDIAN "THEORY" WAS INTRODUCED BY THE BRITISH FOR THE COLONIAL EXPLOITATION.

Recent studies of the distribution of alleles on the Y chromosome microsatellite DNA, and mitochondrial DNA in India have cast overwhelmingly strong doubt for a biological Dravidian "race" distinct from non-Dravidians in the Indian subcontinent. The only distinct ethnic groups present in South Asia, according to genetic analysis, are the Balochi, Brahui, Burusho, Hazara, Kalash, Pathan and Sindhi peoples, the vast majority of whom are found in today's Pakistan.

ACCORDING TO THE LATEST SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE THE FORFATHERS OF THE HOMO SAPIENS (US HUMANS), THE HOMO ERECTUS ORIGINATED IN AFRICA!

SO WE ALL ARE ACTUALLY AFRICANS... BUT NOT BLACK!?!

AND SADLY THE CURRENT CONDITION OF OUR "HOMELAND" IS A HUMANITARIAN DISASTER!

WHO SAID THAT THE ARYANS WERE WHITE-BLOND-BLUE EYED?

THATS WHAT HITLER SAID WITHOUT ANY SCIENTIFIC PROOFS AND WE STILL BELIVE IT LIKE IDIOTS!